b'C o m m u n i t yScarlet Tanager Indigo Bunting Common YellowthroatScience of Whitecap NPI Nature PreserveStory Contributed by Mary Ellen Vega, retired career biol- who spend more time enjoying nature display higher ogist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: levels of happiness and well-being with lower levels The Whitecap Nature Preserve project is unique be- of anxiety and depression. Although the benefits of cause developers are setting aside 26 acres of coastalnaturalsurroundingsareimpressive,whatarethe land that is specifically dedicated to constructing abenefits to wildlife?wildlife preserve, which will focus on avian and pol- Corpus Christi is called the Birdiest City in America linatorspecies. Thenaturepreserveproject,whichfor a reason! This geographic area hosts a diverse bird involvescreatingecologicallydiversehabitatsforpopulation year-roundcalled residents. Our area also wildlife, is being planned and designed by teams ofserves as a significant wintering spot for birds that mi-arborists, landscape architects, and local ornitholo- grate south but only as far as South Texas. Then there gists and ecologists with experience in habitat cre- are the Nearctic-Neotropical migrants that spend their ation and restoration. winters in Mexico, Central and South America, and the The role that parks and green spaces provide in im- West Indies, but migrate north in the spring to their proving physical and mental health is extensive andbreeding grounds in the northern portions of the U.S. well documented. Research has shown that peopleand Canada. Corpus Christi is fortunate to be located 62THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'